This application is co-pending with my three other patent applications Ser. Nos. 720,313; 720,314, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,162; and 720,490, now abandoned and each having the same filing date of Sept. 3, 1976; and relating to a rotary expander engine of the Wankel type describing and claiming various aspects thereof.
This invention relates to an improved cooling system for rotary mechanisms, and more particularly to a cooling system for a rotary expander engine of the Wankel type.
The Wankel engine has been and is being developed as an internal combustion engine by various groups such as Wankel et al, NSU, Lonro, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, General Motors Corporation and Mazda Corporation among many others. Each group has addressed itself to the cooling system for controlling the temperatures of various parts of the engine and each is developing new or different cooling arrangements and techniques as dictated by different requirements.
The development and application of the Wankel geometry as a torpedo expander engine requires a different and unique solution to the cooling problem because as an expander it has two hot zones instead of one. Furthermore, the operating temperatures, pressures, densities and velocities of the working fluid are much higher than those of ordinary Wankel engine, resulting in higher heat transfer coefficients. Such an expander engine presents a more difficult cooling problem and it is desirable to have a cooling system which is suitable for a torpedo expander engine to meet the special problems encountered therein.